1900 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER: 
479 
A BIG MARKET GARDEN. 
The Home of the Miller Cream Melon. 
Part II. 
TOBACCO AS A STAPLE CROP—The Chemung 
Valley, with Elmira as its center, has, during the last 
10 years, become one of the largest tobacco growing 
districts in the country, the rich and very deep allu¬ 
vial soil of the river flats producing a high quality of 
this exacting plant. While the noted tobacco locali¬ 
ties of Lancaster County, Pa., and the lower Connecti¬ 
cut Valley have scarcely held their own against 
foreign competition, and made a great outcry against 
the free admission of the Porto Rican product, the 
Elmira growers have steadily increased their acreage, 
and are satisfied they can produce a tough, light-col¬ 
ored wrapper that can stand on its own merits against 
all comers. The Miller Bros, grow about 60 acres of 
tobacco yearly, and this large crop requires the entire 
supervision of the youngest member of the firm. 
When I visited the tarm June 12, the plants were 
being set by a Bemis transplanter 
at the rate of three acres (each 
acre requiring about 12,000 plants) 
per day, during dry weather, as 
the machine furnishes enough 
water to each plant to enable it to 
stand up until it can lay hold of 
the freshly-prepared soil. These 
machines have been used by the 
Millers for the last 10 years, and 
give good satisfaction. All garden 
plants, with the exception of cel¬ 
ery, which generally is too short, 
can be successfully planted with 
them. As most of The R. N.-Y. 
readers know, the machine is es¬ 
sentially a cask of water mounted 
on wheels, with a mechanism for 
opening a slight furrow, a pump 
for ejecting the necessary amount 
of water about the roots of the 
plants, a spacer connected with 
the pump, which indicates the ex¬ 
act place in which to set the plant, 
and the covering shares, which 
pack the earth about the roots. 
Two riding platforms are hung un¬ 
der the frame, on which sit two 
active men with boxes of freshly- 
pulled plants before them, and al¬ 
ternate in setting them at the 
point indicated by the spacer. The 
Bemis transplanter requires a 
strong and steady team of horses, 
as a considerable weight is con¬ 
stantly being dragged over the 
loose ground. Twelve hundred 
pounds of a “tobacco brand” fer¬ 
tilizer is broadcast on each acre 
just before harrowing, and 200 
pounds additional of “tobacco 
starter,” a brand rich in nitrogen, 
is applied to the rows with a hand 
drill before setting the plants. 
The object, of course, is to give 
the plants a quick start, and get 
them up to the point when cultiva¬ 
tion can safely be begun. Too 
much nitrogen is distinctly injuri¬ 
ous to the quality of leaf desired, 
as it renders them coarse and 
dark, whereas thin leaves that will 
cure light are desired. The great 
amounts of phosphates and potash 
in the regular tobacco fertilizer 
seems to accomplish this admira¬ 
bly. 
SOME TOBACCO FACTS.—As 
very highest quality was developed. The seed was 
first distributed in 1885 by .1. .1. H. Gregory, of Mar¬ 
blehead, Mass., under the name Miller’s Cream, after 
having tested it thoroughly in his grounds. Some 
seed soon found its way to market gardens at Benton 
Harbor, Mich., growers there offering $5 a pound for 
tne stock seed. At this time, when it was thought 
that the melon was perfected, three types or forms oc¬ 
casionally appeared: 1. A very long, heavy melon, 
with thin skin and thick flesh; this one would not 
stand handling on account of the thinness of the rind. 
2. Another type, more round in shape, heavily netted, 
with deeper ribs, flesh less thick and rather sweeter 
than the first variety. 3. A form resembling closely 
in appearance the Green Nutmeg, probably one of the 
parents, except that the flesh is thick and deep orange 
in color. These types can all be grown at the present 
time from the seed of any one of them. The two lat¬ 
ter have appeared in selected form in the western 
markets under the name of Osage, and the very suc¬ 
cessful new Paul Rose melon is but a selection of 
EL/EAGNUS LONGIPES IN FRUIT. Fig. 161. See Ruralisms, Page 482 
nearly three-quarters of a million plants are used 
each year by this one firm, it will be seen that there 
is a good local market for plants of the right variety, 
as few of the large tobacco growers ard able to supply 
themselves with plants, but rely on those who make 
a specialty of plant growing. Tobacco, as grown here, 
is expected to yield 1,800 to 2,000 pounds to the acre. 
As it should average 12 cents a pound, or $240 a ton, 
and can be produced for five to six cents a pound, it 
will be seen that there is a satisfactory profit in the 
crop, provided dry weather or hailstorms do not 
interfere too seriously. 
THE MILLER CREAM MELON.—Mr. John D. 
Miller, in pursuance of his policy of testing all prom¬ 
ising novelties as offered, grew, 30 years ago, the 
Casaba, Sill’s Hybrid and Green Nutmeg muskmelons, 
as wedl as many other varieties, and first noticed a 
cross in 1877, which appeared to have value. The 
direct produce of this hybrid differed widely in shape, 
size, color and form, but after a period of selection, a 
type with green skin and deep orange flesh of the 
Miller’s Cream, crossed with Burpee’s Netted Gem. 
BACK TO THE FARM.—After the death of John D. 
Miller the four sons, now associated together, who 
had all received high school and college educations, 
scattered out over the country, one to the Klondike, 
one to the cattle plains of Wyoming, another to 
Florida, in pursuit of fortune and what appeared to 
be broadened opportunities. After varied experiences, 
during which they severally acquired much wisdom 
and parted with some cash, the “boys” rounded up at 
the old homektead, convinced that a mine of satisfac¬ 
tion and a substantial profit awaited their coopera¬ 
tive administration of this fine garden on the prac¬ 
tical business lines developed by the father, and the 
successes of the past three years have fully justified 
their decision. 
A FEW POINTS.—Nearly every strawberry of note 
has been tested by the Millers since the time of Ho- 
vey’s Seedling and Willson. Glen Mary, Bubach and 
Brandywine are now the favorites, the first named 
withstanding late frosts better than the others. 
. . . . Heavy dressings of salt applied to the 
soil before radishes are sown, prevent injury from 
the root maggot.Muriate of potash is 
equally successful in restraining the Cabbage root- 
worm.From $250 to $300 have been taken 
in prizes at county fains in the lower tier of counties 
in a season for the best displays of vegetables, and 
the preparation of displays is made a side feature in 
the business.Of 40 varieties of tomatoes 
grown last year, Burpee’s Combination, which orig¬ 
inated on the Rural Grounds, made the best showing. 
_ w. v. F. 
RAKE IN PLACE OF HOE. 
Shakespeare tells us that Cleopatra made a study 
of easy ways to die. As a farmer, with more work 
around than I can ever do, I tiave made a study of 
easy ways to live, and though there iis no end to the 
work, I have made some discoveries in that line, and 
hope to make more. If you are going to use the hoe, 
as intimated last week, let me ask you, out of regard 
for the youngsters on the place, 
who may come to it later, to try 
the garden rake instead, that is, 
where the soil is mellow, and the 
weeds are small. It is to weeds 
what the shotgun is to a rifle in 
duck shooting, and vastly more 
rapid. You can rake through a 
corn hill, and straighten tht 
leaves, as well as fill in fine soil, 
and do it at a single stroke. Again, 
when returning from a barley 
piece, where I had been putting in 
grass seed with a horse rake, l 
ventured to try my asparagus bed, 
raking lengthwise. The surface 
was fine, and the rake dug 1 V 2 to 
two inches deep. It was a great 
success and did not seem to break 
a stalk. That process has been re¬ 
peated, after cultivation, about 
twice a week, and has saved me no 
end of backaching hoeing and 
hand weeding, as it conquers all 
but a little Witch grass. The 
spaces between the rows are some¬ 
what lower than the rows, and the 
rake wheels run rather low, so as 
to make the teeth take hold better 
than they would on a level. The 
rake should be the one with fine 
teeth, not bent wire, and the horse 
rake I use is the old Ithaca with 
bluht teeth. g. s. paine. 
Maine. 
R. N.-Y.—Farmers who have 
used a weeder will appreciate the 
value of his advice. Several years 
ago Mr. Breed, the inventor of the 
weeder, devised a hand tool which 
was a combination of iron rake 
and hoe. The rake feature was at¬ 
tached to the back of the hoe. It 
consisted of stiff, curved teeth of 
steel, which could be used to work 
through or around a hill of corn or 
potatoes. The only objection 
found to it was its weight—it was 
too heavy for a hand tool. It must 
be said that the great use of the 
weeder has not entirely driven the 
hoe out of the field. Many farm¬ 
ers find that it pays to use both, 
especially on crops that follow an 
old sod which is full of weeds. In 
such cases, while the weeder is of 
very great service, some hand tool 
for close work around the plants 
is a necessity, if we are to clean out the weeds. The 
suggestion concerning the value of the rake is a good 
one, especially in the garden plot. 
I am not a believer in the cultivation of an orchard, 
that is, in the sense generally used. I leave my orchard 
in grass, pasture with hogs, and manure, and for my 
soil I believe it the best course. T - b. w. 
Hall’s Corners, N. Y. 
According to the figures of the New York Commercial 
the amount of money left in Philadelphia by the dele¬ 
gates and visitors during the four days of the Republican 
National Convention was $2,000,000. This is divided about 
as follows: Butter, eggs, vegetables and groceries, $750,000; 
bakers’ goods, $250,000; street car fares, $250,000; liquid re¬ 
freshments, $250,000, and cigars, $500,000. 
Tell those who use wing-shovels on their cultivator to 
put wing-shovels on the front and remove rear or outside 
standards entirely; they will find it run much steadier 
with less labor on the man who tries to control It. When 
handles or “nibs” on scythe-snathbecome locse remove 
them and saw or rasp off the wood which imbeds the 
burr; put on a small was! tr and tighten with a wrench. 
ThAv will be tightened to stay. c. J. h. 
